Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-02-10
BIRDS In INDIA.
Curious Superstitions of the Hindoos Concern
Them-The Baleful Bat and the Cunning


IL.
In India, as elsewhere, the common owl
is a bird of i'll omen; but white species
is held in high esteem by the Hindoos.
The white owl is always supposed to
bring good luck, hence it is held sacred
to the goddess of prosperity, and the
people are pleased when it builds its
nest in their houses. In the country
these birds always establish their nests
in the darkest hooks and corners of old
houses, breeding there generally twice a
year and producing five or six young
ones at time, and all their schreeching
and shrieking is endured for luck's sake.
It is considered extreme good fortune to
get a glimpse of white owl during the
daytime. The crow bears the same evil
reputatiOn.in India as in other countries,
it's cry thrice repeated being a sure token
of death. But in some parts a crow OIL
raven cawing only once on the lert of a
young woman is held as sign that her
lover is coming 30 meet her. The name
of the bat is never utterad at night by
the common people, the belief being that
the utterer would soon lose all his prop
erty. In the villages it is believed that
if pregnant woman is sitting on the
house roof and sees bat fly over her
head she will never be delivered of her
child until the same bird passes over her
head.
curious legend about the chakwa Or
Brahmini duck is found all over India.
For some indlscretion two lovers were
turned into Brahmini ducks and con-
demned to pass the night apart from
each other on opposite banks of river.
All night long each asks in its turn if it
shall join it's mate, and the answer is al
ways no.
"Chakwa, shall Gomez"
''No, Chakwi"
"Chakwi, shall I Gomez
EsNo, Chakwa.''
The Chakor, or Indian red-legged par
fridge, which is found ali over the Hima-
layas (the hen lays from ten to fifteen
eggs) is said to be enamored of the moyn
and to eat fire at the full moon-possibIy
of the fact from its seeming to hover
about the moon. The appearance of the
chatak, small bird is held to pressage a
good shower of rain, the bird living
only on rain drops and was always crying
for them.
The peacock is said to scream and
dance with Joy at the sound of thunder,
and he dances, dances on; when he looks
down he weeps adon" Cat the sight of his
ugly feet, they say. The peacock is
credited with strong thievish propensi-
ties, it appears from this saying: ''The
deer, the monkey, the partridge, and the
peacock rob the field of its store" Any
thing that betrays itself is likened to "a
peacock In the thief's house''-a saying
founded on the story of peacock which
swallowed a gold necklace brought home
by a. thief.
This bird is sacred to the Hindoo god
rho ie tod vii
it.
The kite, the hawk and the vulture are
all regarded as very unlucky birds. The
schreeching of the first brings serious
misfortune, the sight of the second fam
inc and oppression, and the approach OF
the third death. By whirling a kite
around the head of a Muslin child on
Tuesday or Saturday and then letting it
go, great blessings are insured to the lit
tie one. Fowlers trade on this supersti-
ton. Kites sometimes carr, off gold
ornaments, and Mohammedan women say
the reason is because the young kites will
not open their eyes until gold is placed
in the nest; hence the saying, "The phil
osopher's stone in the kites nest.'
The half-mythical ga1'uda, a kind of
eagle, sometimes called sad jutant," is the
mortal enemy of snakes. The legend
goes that the mother of garuda quarreled
with her sister, who was the mother of
the snakes, respecting the color of the
horse that was produced at the churning
of the ocean; and since that time there
has been constant enmity between their
descendants. When garuda was mar
RAG, the serpents, alarmed at the thought
of his having children who might destroy
them, made a fierce attack on him; but
he slew them all, save one, which he has
since worn as an ornament around his
neck. To this day superstitious Hindoos
repeat the name of garuda three times
when walking in their fields, and before
going to sleep at night, as safeguard
against snakes.
The crane is considered to be the most
cunning of all birds. 1t places itself
quietly by pool, apparently absorbed in
meditation till it sees a fish to dart upon
So the word "crane" has become synony-
nous with "hypocrite, traitor" ETC.. in
Sanskrit and the languages derived from
it. A crane is said to have betrayed the
hiding place of one of the Pandava broth
ers whose adventures are described in
the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. The
pigeon is thought to be suspicious. Pig
cons are carefully raised In houses, which
they are believed to preserve from de-
uS OSf6 Is lOOkou upon as q mar
binger of good luck. The sight of a
pair of doves by a young married lady
whose husband is away from home means
that he will return soon.
There is a woman's saying that cuck-
oo's note heard on the right is an ex-
cellent omen; and yet the cuckoo is held
to be an unlucky bird in most parts of
India. The papiya, of the parrot species
is said to cry MY eye is going"-from
the legend that once man, seeing many
wicked deeds done before his eyes, died
uttering these words, and was transform
ed into the bird. Superstitious people
are afraid to do anything wrong before a
papiya, lest it should betray them. One
little bird bears the curious designation
1.-The bird of the lost money" because it
seems TO utter In low voice something
that means "Oh! huve you kept, or have
| kept it!''
There is a tradition that its first an
cestors were man and wife, who, hav-
ing lost al! their wealth died heart brok-
n v,or e